Anodyne
by Shinra-Turk
Summary: As the conspiracy within Shinra thickens, unsettling information will cause the Turk Tseng to become Rufus' bodyguard. CHAPTER 5 is up!Main Chr Tseng, Rufus, Reeve, Reno. Not yaoi.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This is not a Yaoi fanfiction. Sorry people, it's not Shota either. Anyway, it takes place around 10 years before the events of the game. I write about a chapter every three days or so, however, I usually post two chapters at a time, so expect an update every week.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII or any of the non-original characters. -- I do, however, own this fanfiction, and any reproduction of it without my explicit consent is considered plagiarism. Remember that! Oh, and have a nice day! (Speaking of that, to post this fanfic on your website, please E-mail me (saturnkou at aol dot com) with the URL of your site and I'll get back to you with a 'yes' or 'no' answer within a few days. )  
  
**Chapter One**  
  
Tseng Jikandori, the second in command of the highly respected Turks, the youngest man ever to receive such a high position and the only Wutain to ever join the ranks of upper Shin-ra, was extremely late.

"Damn", he hissed "Why didn't Dante tell me about this meeting sooner?!"

As the second in command of the Department of Administrative Research, he could not afford to be late for an executive meeting. Especially one that he was asked to attend specifically by the CEO of the corporation. The Turk charged past the elevators. "I'd better not waste my time with them," He thought to himself "They're always so packed with people around this time." He sharply turned a corner, heading for the stairs, and almost ran into Elena Parkerson, a new secretary for some Shin- ra manager. Tseng believed she either worked in Weapons Development or the Space Program, but he wasn't exactly sure which, and in any case he didn't really care. As it was, Elena had to flatten herself against the pasty white office wall to avoid hitting Tseng as he sprinted past her.

Finding the dark stairwell, Tseng coasted up it, till he reached the 60th floor. "Damn." Tseng muttered under his breath, not even breaking a sweat as he finished running up the sixty flights of stairs. "There's no way I'm going to make it in time." He hastily pulled his keycard from his pocket as he came to the door of the 61st floor, and used it to open it. Then headed up the next few floors till he reached the 68th one.

When he finally made it to the boardroom he found that he was the first one there. In fact, he was an hour early. "Maybe you shouldn't give yourself that much time to make it up a few flights of stairs" the Secretary had advised him, upon seeing him show up early yet again. After a while, one by one people began filling in, until the President of the company himself took a seat at the head of the long, mahogany table that sat in the center of the room and the meeting started.

At first Tseng had wondered why he was even asked to attend. He wasn't an executive officer, and so far nothing that had been said pertained to his field. It wasn't until the president mentioned the newest resistance faction that Tseng took any interest in what was being said.

"They call themselves the "Midgar Owls". They've claimed responsibility for a few arsons of Shin-ra property and slayings of Shin-ra soldiers in the region. Obviously Shin-ra doesn't support these types of terrorist groups running around, and as such they need to be...." The president turned his attention to Tseng, "taken care of."

It took a moment for what he had said to sink into the other officials. Then, "Ah," came a soft murmur from the other side of the boardroom. Tseng looked to see who had spoken, and realized it was Abel, the new head of Urban Development. "So that's why he's here." Abel looked directly at Tseng, his graying hair falling in front of his brown eyes as he spoke. "It takes a killer to kill a killer. You're going to have him take out the resistance."

Tseng didn't respond to the "killer" comment, but privately asked himself why all of the Urban Development department heads had been such humanitarians.

"Gyahaha" A loud laugh resounded from directly across the table. There sat Heidegear. He laughed again and Tseng winced in spite of the fact that this was the man that the Turks directly reported to. His laugh reminded him of cheese grating on a blackboard. That is, both bizarre and unpleasant. Heidegear shifted all 300lbs of his body to sit and face the head of Urban Development "That's right. The Turks will destroy any resistance." Heidegear said. Abel met his beady black eyes.

"You don't find anything wrong with that?" He hissed. He was about to speak again, but was cut off by President Shin-ra, who continued talking as if he hadn't heard that last few minutes of conversation.

"Tseng, I'm leaving you in charge of the resistance. Also, tell Dante that he will be my son's bodyguard for the next month. We've gotten word that a few factions don't like the idea of him being named Vice President and have it in mind to make sure he doesn't become the CEO."

"Yes sir." Tseng said.

The rest of the meeting went by very quickly, as talk shifted to the war efforts in Wutai. After the meeting was over Tseng was the last to depart from the boardroom. As he headed out he realized that Abel was standing outside. "He's probably waiting for me." Tseng mumbled to himself. "Probably wants to yell at me because of what I do." As he walked by he increased his pace, not wanting to have to deal with the executive.

"Why do you do it?" Abel called out after him.

Tseng stopped and turned around to face him. "_Damn.... Oh well. No emotion._" He thought to himself. "_Show him no emotion_"

"How can you just kill innocent people without a second thought?"

Tseng shrugged and repeated the speech he had rehearsed so many times in his mind "It's not like I enjoy killing. It's just something I've been doing all my life. It doesn't strike me as being 'bad', or 'wrong'. And it's not like I'm psycho, and get a thrill out of doing it. It's just something I do. It's a part of my life."

Abel stared at him, an obvious look of disgust on his face. "That makes it even worse! You don't realize what you're doing is evil? Don't give me that 'I grew up with it, it's a part of my life' shit either! You're what, 17? It's not a part of your life yet because you don't even know what 'life' is!"

Tseng rolled his eyes. He wasn't into that philosophical stuff. "I'm a Turk" He replied simply. "I'm not supposed to question what's 'right' or 'wrong'. That's not what I'm paid to do."

"Dante does."

"Hmm?" Tseng's mind raced back to the Dante, leader of the Turks, and he raised an eyebrow.

"He questions it." Abel said, narrowing his eyes.

Once again Tseng shrugged. "I sincerely doubt it." With that he walked away. After all, he had a mission to do, and in order to do it he had to meet Dante down in the cafeteria, and then be at the helipad by 16:00, and that was only a few hours away.

---------

"So then she was, like, totally hitting on me."

"Can we please get back to work?!" Tseng was annoyed. There he was, sitting in the cafeteria with Dante, trying to have a civilized conversation, and his boss kept changing subjects. If he didn't hurry up he would be late for his helicopter departure.

"Eh? Jeez, with you it's all business isn't it?" Dante cried, an exasperated look on his face. "We haven't actually spoken in what, a month, and all you can think about is your job? God, you're going to go crazy!"

Tseng ignored the comment, "Anyway you're to look after the President's son." He started, as Dante turned his attention to the large tree that loomed over their table in the cafeteria. "I'll be- Dante, are you listening?!" The leader of the Turks stopped picking the leaves off the tree and faced Tseng again.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm guessing you got a mission, and I'm also guessing that it involves a certain resistance faction. Has it ever occurred to you that they probably haven't even done anything bad?"

Tseng snorted "Except for arson and killing."

"Which, may I remind you, we do on a daily basis."

"Dante, you're too sentimental."

Dante smiled at Tseng sadly. "And you're too much of a Turk." A long silence filled the cafeteria, and Tseng realized that they were the only people there. Dante must have realized it as well.

"You know," Dante murmured "I could shoot you right now. No one would know." His smile changed, and became sadistic. "No one would care."

Tseng met Dante's eyes before standing up. "What's gotten into you?" Dante didn't reply, and Tseng started to walk away. He stopped when he heard his superior's low voice coming from behind him.

"Oh, yeah." Dante smirked, remembering that Tseng had specifically asked him to relay information as soon as he received it. "The President wants to see you in his office at 13:00."

Tseng stared at him blankly for a minute. Then checked his watch. It was 10 till 12:00. Thought began to flow rapidly in his mind. He was on the 61st floor. The president wanted him to meet him on the 70th floor. If suddenly a strange phenomenon occurred and people started caring about their health and therefore began using the stairs then there might be a wait to get up the stairs and... and...

"Oh God!" Tseng cried "I'm never going to make it in time!" With another cry of outrage he sprinted away, heading for the stairwell, hoping to get there before people realized that it might be beneficial in the long run to use them as opposed to the elevators.

When Tseng finally made it to the President's office the first thing he noticed upon entering the room was that there were no executives. There wasn't even a secretary present. It was just him and the CEO.

"Take a seat" The president gestured to the chair positioned in front of his spacious desk. Tseng sat down. "_What is this about?_" He thought to himself. He had never been called to the President's office by himself before.

"Tseng.' The President began, stroking his blonde mustache "How long have you been with Shin-ra?"

"All my life, sir."

"Hmmm," The President seemed to be in deep thought, though what about, Tseng could only guess.

"Tseng," He began yet again, "New information has just started developing." He paused awkwardly, "I would like you to take care of my son, Rufus, and leave the resistance faction to Leon. He's the newest of your ranks, right?

Tseng nodded, but couldn't help but be a bit confused by this request. Why would he be telling this to him and not Dante, especially since Dante was their leader, and the information involved him?

"My son can be a bit of a hassle," The CEO smiled. "But I'm sure he won't be too much to handle for a Turk. I expect you to treat him with the same respect you would treat me, he is the Vice President of the company after all."

Tseng nodded again.

"You're to meet him on the helipad in ten minutes, and from there go directly to Junon where you'll meet his mother. You're to stay there for a month, then we'll see how it goes from there."

"Ten minutes, sir?" Tseng questioned. A prickling of the same panicky sensation that he got whenever he believed he would arrive late for a meeting was already forming in his stomach. How in the world was he going to make it the helipad in ten minutes?

"Yes, everything you'll need has already been loaded on the helicopter, and the helipad is stationed right outside my office. In fact, you probably won't need the ten minutes at all."

"Oh." Tseng answered dumbly, looking past the President, and outside the floor-to-ceiling office windows to see that there was in fact a helicopter stationed outside.

"Well, go on then."

An awkward silence filled the room as Tseng stood up, and headed outside. He half expected the President to follow him, after all, his son would be waiting outside, and if rumors were true they hadn't spoken face to face in quite some time.

However, when Tseng glanced back he saw that he was alone. He walked around outside of the office, not exactly sure what to do. He assumed Rufus would be arriving on a helicopter, yet there was only one helipad stationed there, and it already contained the helicopter they were going to use to depart.

A few minutes passed and Tseng had half a mind to go back inside and ask the President where his son was. After a moment he realized how bad that would sound, especially since he was supposed to be protecting him, and decided against it.

Instead he walked over to the railing, and looked over. Below him lay the city of Midgar, with all of it skyscrapers (though no building was quite as large as the main Shin-ra headquarters) and activity. Looking at the city from above, it would be hard to imagine that there would ever be terrorist groups bent on destroying Shin-ra. Upper Midgar was a truly beautiful place. Tseng knew, though, that there was a whole other side to Midgar, and underneath the "floating" city, lay slums almost the size of Upper Midgar, or "the Plate" as it was referred to by many.

"It's really gloomy isn't it?" The Turk turned and looked down at the source of the small voice. There stood the Vice President. "It'll all be mine someday. You know that right?" The VP asked, gazing up at Tseng with piercing cerulean eyes.

"Yeah, I know."

"Good, just making sure." Rufus paused, and looked at his bodyguard with little interest. Tseng smiled kindly at the child. It was hard to imagine that he would grow up to be the most powerful man in the world. Rufus was a small kid. Skinny, with large blue eyes and light strawberry blonde hair that fell about his pale face.

"Do you know who I am?" Tseng asked the ten-year-old, bending down so he was at eye level with his superior's son.

Rufus smirked. "Daddy's bitch, right?"

Tseng was taken back by his answer. He quickly regained his composure, however, and kept his voice calm as he replied. "No, I'm Tseng, your bodyguard."

Rufus continued to smirk. "Hmmm?" He raised an eyebrow and studied Tseng pensively "Yeah, you're a Turk. You do whatever father asks. A 'jack of all trades'. A bitch to the system." The older man stared at Rufus for a while, not sure exactly what to make of the jaded child. Rufus took this opportunity to question Tseng in the same patronizing voice the Turk had used when he had asked his first question. "So, how did you become a Turk?"

Tseng shrugged. "I was captured by Shin-ra during a raid on my village in the Wutain War when I was five, then trained with Shin-ra to become a Turk." He paused, and then added, "What I am now," for good measure, as if the boy hadn't already realized that. "Ahhh," Rufus chided, "You mean, 'not much'?"

Tseng winced, and ran his slender fingers through his dark hair. He tried to respond, but found that he had nothing to say. "What's with this kid?" He thought. He hadn't decided whether he liked the boy or not. He had an attitude a mile thick, but he also seemed to have a certain wit that Tseng liked in a person. "Damn." He finally muttered sheepishly.

Rufus laughed, and a playful smile crossed his usually cold features. "Hey, Tseng, can I ask you something?"

Tseng turned back to face the boy, still not exactly sure of what to make of him. "Yeah, sure."

"What's with the dot?"

"Dot?"

"Yeah." Rufus continued, ignoring the confused look on his bodyguard's face "That little black dot on your forehead. Is it magical? Can you see out of it? Can you move it to random parts of your body?"

Tseng grinned, "Naw, it's just a birthmark."

"Hmmm..." Rufus' eyelids drooped a bit "How boring..."

The Turk continued to grin, while turning back around, "Sir, we should probably get going, the helicopter's waiting."

Rufus nodded, and flipped his short blonde locks of hair out of his eyes. "Yeah. I guess." With that they both headed to the helicopter for the long flight to Junon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2  
**  
The 1st helicopter ride had been a smooth one; Rufus had fallen asleep, curled up in a tiny ball, almost as soon as they had taken off. After that Tseng simply sat in the helicopter and gazed out of the window.

They landed to refuel at about 02:00 the next day."Sir?" The helicopter pilot poked his head back in the area Tseng and Rufus were currently sitting in. "Are you going to go out and stretch your legs?""No" Tseng motioned towards Rufus' sleeping form; "I should keep an eye on him.""Yes, but I'm sure Reeve wouldn't mind looking after him for a minute or two.""Reeve?" Tseng asked, his eyes narrowed and he instinctively glanced around. Had this "Reeve" been on the chopper the whole time and he had just failed to notice him?"Yeah, he's from Urban Development, we're going to pick him up and bring him with us so he can check the Junon cannon output."Tseng turned back towards the pilot. "We're bringing him with us? Why was I not informed?" The cold way in which Tseng asked this made the pilot gulp in fear. It wasn't wise to anger a Turk."It was on your itinerary." He answered meekly, pointing to a sheet of paper that rested on his dark blue duffle bag."_Why didn't I notice that? I've been in this thing for over five hours!_" Tseng thought to himself, picking up the sheet of paper. Sure enough, Reeve was listed as joining them.The Turk sighed. "Still, it wouldn't be wise for me to just leave him with Reeve just so I can go stretch.""Suit yourself."A few minutes passed and rain began to fall. That was when Tseng noticed a tall figure running in the distance. He assumed it was Reeve, for when he got closer he noticed it was a man in a navy blue suit, much like his own. He was running huddled over a laptop, which he clutched to his breast in one had, and a small duffle bag, which, Tseng noticed, was halfway unzipped, and held in the other.By the time the man made it to the helicopter he was quite soaked, and yet, he still carried a smile on his face. Upon entering Tseng quickly added him to his mental

database. "_Reeve: Tall, short dark brown hair, goatee, pale, looks professional, in Urban Development... Oh God," _He thought_ "He's going to be one of those damn humanitarians_."

After a moment Tseng found himself to be correct, Reeve was quite the humanitarian. However, he seemed to have no problem with the Turks. The first thing he did when entering was to take a small black and white kitten from the duffle bag he was carrying. "His name is Felix." He explained, then he promptly introduced himself as, "Reeve, of Urban Development, the humanitarian who hates all resistance factions and likes those who fight against them," all while happily shaking Tseng's hand."So, you'll be staying with us?" Tseng asked, eyeing Reeve thoughtfully. He had already set up his laptop, and had begun typing with one hand, and petting Felix (Who was already, like Rufus, fast asleep.) with the other. "Yeah, at least until the President comes for the banquet on Friday.""Oh." Tseng mumbled, and mentally cursed himself for not reading over the itinerary more carefully. He'd already forgotten about that. The Turk noticed that Reeve had stopped petting Felix, and was now groping around in his bag. A second later he removed a cup of coffee and started drinking out of it. He must have noticed Tseng staring at him because a moment later he blushed and looked down mumbling, "I figured I'd get some extra work done. You know, before checking the cannon output....""Yeah, I work late as well... And sometimes I even leave a few hours early to get to work."This seemed to cheer Reeve up "Really?!" He asked "Me too! In fact, I also-"A soft snickering from the corner of the chopper cut Reeve off. "Wow, a meeting of the Dorks." Reeve blushed again and looked down. "S-sorry Sir, I didn't mean to wake you..." He stuttered.Rufus shrugged. "No worries, I was going to wake up soon anyway.... You are?""Reeve, Sir, I work in-""I wasn't taking to you." Rufus hissed, "I was talking to the cat." He motioned towards Felix, who, like the Vice President, was now awake, and rubbing against his legs."Oh! His name is Felix." Reeve muttered, his face now resembling a cherry."What part about, 'I was talking to the cat,' do you not understand?"Reeve was at a loss for words. Tseng could tell Rufus was about to start up again, so he decided to take charge. "Sir, shouldn't you be sleeping? It's only 02:20 and you have a full day ahead of you."Rufus turned his attention back towards Tseng. "Yeah. I suppose you're right." He moved back into fetal position again, grabbing the kitten as he did so. "Come on Felix."Reeve looked back at Tseng. "Thanks," he mouthed, and began typing once again.The next day went by fairly smoothly. They landed in Junon and Reeve ran off to do his own thing, taking Felix with him and leaving Rufus very disappointed. Tseng was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Reeve because it was becoming obvious that Felix had more friends than he did.At around 13:00 Tseng tried to contact Dante on his cell phone to see how things were going back at Shin-ra Headquarters. He was very surprised when it was not Dante who answered."Leon?""Yeah?" Leon's voice cracked a bit. The reception wasn't all that great."Where's Dante? Why are you answering his cell phone?" Tseng asked."I have no idea where he is, he left his cell phone with me a couple of hours ago and I haven't seen him since."Tseng didn't reply, and Leon took advantage of his silence and continued."Tseng? Before Dante left he said something about 'Red carnations'....""...I see..." The Turk was very confused by this news; Dante was fond of playing mind games with Tseng. However, he had reservations about his superior ever since that stunt he had pulled in the Cafeteria."Oh, and watch out, we've gotten word that the Midgar Owls also have a base in Junon. Anyway, got to go, mission at 14:00."Tseng nodded and hung up, encased in deep thought."Tseng?" The Turk snapped out of his daze and looked down to find it was Rufus that had addressed him. "Mother is waiting over there." Tseng nodded, and they headed over to where a tall, beautiful, blonde-haired woman awaited.

----  
  
"I said stop it!" Rufus' mother cried, pulling her son forcefully away from Felix. It seemed that Reeve would be staying with them for a little while, and had already stopped by, leaving his cat. Privately Tseng was glad Reeve was going to be staying with them, the house that they were in was huge. The Turk estimated that it would be able to serve as a home to at least 200 people comfortably. However right now it was almost empty and sort of intimidating to be in. Not only that, but Reeve had seemed like an interesting guy. Tseng had never met someone as professional as himself. Even Rufus had taken a liking to him... Well, to his cat anyway. He had been trying to play with him for the last hour, but his mother insisted that he leave the animal alone, lest he get cat hair all over his new outfit.

"But mom!" Rufus whined, pulling Tseng out of his thoughts. He was reaching towards Felix again."No 'buts' Rufus! Your father will be here tomorrow! How do you think he would react to see you covered in cat hair?!""I don't think he would care." Rufus mumbled under his breath. He glared up at his mother, but stopped reaching for the kitten. A second or so passed and he stood up. "I'm going to go out on the balcony.""Oh" Tseng quickly got to his feet, stumbling over old Victorian chair he had been sitting on. "I should come with you."Rufus sent Tseng a dirty look. "I can handle myself." he said, but didn't complain further when Tseng followed him outside.Standing on the balcony reminded the Turk much of standing outside waiting for the Vice President. At his current location he could see all of Junon, from the docks near the slums, to the huge cannon that towered over most of the port. The air was becoming crisp; a clue that winter was nipping at their heels."It's sad isn't it?" Rufus said, glancing up at his bodyguard. "This will all be mine someday, and I've never even seen half of it. We buy huge places like this," He gestured to the mansion, "and I'm stuck inside the whole time.... It must be nice being a Turk. You must get to see and do so many things...." Tseng didn't respond, and let Rufus continue. "For once I'd like to just visit a place I've never been to, a place that's not designated 'safe' for me to be." The boy sighed and the wind ruffled his blonde hair. He flipped it back, and waited for Tseng to say something. When he finally did speak, however, it wasn't the comforting words Rufus had longed to hear but instead a question that the vice president considered to be a total non sequitur."Won't your father be visiting tomorrow?"Rufus snorted "Yeah, but he won't want to see me.""Oh...""Is that all you have to say?!" Rufus cried, a flash of anger ran across his face. "Damn Turk. I don't even know why I told you all that..." He mumbled, moving to walk inside. Frankly, Tseng didn't know why he told him it either.

"_But,_" he thought as he followed the child inside. "_He's angry, and that definitely won't make this job any easier._"  
  
Reeve came back from work around 10 in the evening, fed Felix, than went to bed. Tseng wanted to talk to him about Rufus, Hell; he wanted to talk to anyone about him. There seemed to be something strange about the boy. The cynical part of Tseng thought that he would make a great Turk, as he seemed to have a real problem opening up to people, and then once he did, he would push them away. "_Of course_," Tseng chuckled to himself, "_I'm probably not making things any easier for him. But, then again, that's not my job._" The Turk fell asleep on the couch near the dining room that night, with those thoughts still going through his head.

The next morning was a busy one. Tseng woke up early as usual, though not as early, he noticed, as Reeve, whom Tseng was beginning to believe was a "working robot" of sorts. When Reeve spotted him, he greeted the Turk with his usual jubilant smile, then told him that the President would be arriving at around 12:00, at which time the banquet would start. Tseng quickly ran his slender fingers through his dark hair, before turning to go upstairs to wake Rufus up.Unfortunately, he realized the Vice President was already awake when he heard the child's voice booming from his room. "But mom!" He whined. Tseng made it to his room to find the Rufus' mother attempting to force a black dress coat over her son's head."Put it on! Don't you want to look good for your father?!" She yelled. Rufus didn't respond, but kept struggling, and after a while Tseng started feeling sorry for him. His skinny arms were flailing in every which direction, in an attempt to confuse (Or at least this is what Tseng took it as) his mother, who was slowly giving up the fight. Finally she threw the coat on the moss-green carpeted floors and stormed out, pushing past Tseng as she did so.The Turk slowly entered the room and watched as Rufus walked over to one of his many large rosewood wardrobes and reached inside. He pulled out a duster-length white jacket and a pair of equally white pants. "Do you mind?" he hissed. Tseng turned around as Rufus changed into the pants, and slipped the white jacket over his black sweater.

"Hrm." He muttered, "something's missing," he searched through his wardrobe again, and this time pulled out a double-breasted jacket, almost identical to the one before it, just shorter in length. He slipped this over the other jacket, and walked over to the full-length mirror in the corner of the room to admire himself in it. "Well?" His attention turned to Tseng. "How does it look?"

Tseng looked at his employer's son. "It looks fine." He responded. There was no way in Hell, he decided, that he would tell the boy what he really thought, that he looked like a 10-year-old pimp.After his rendezvous with Rufus, the Turk found himself positioned near the front door to the mansion, ready to greet the President upon his arrival. The Vice President sat next to him on a tall bar stool. Where he obtained it, Tseng hadn't a clue, considering there wasn't a bar that he was aware of within the mansion. However, he decided not to ask, since the boy seemed to be in a very bad mood, and was kicking his legs out at the servants that walked by. The President was scheduled to appear in an hour; however, Tseng didn't want to move from his spot just in case he came early. Reeve was still upstairs getting ready, though he wasn't needed until the guests started arriving. Felix was locked upstairs, much to Rufus' dismay. In short, everything was in order, just like Tseng liked it.When the President arrived that order vanished. All of a sudden someone realized that there wasn't enough fruitcake to sustain both Heidegear and Palmer while another found that in the current seating arrangement the Vice President wouldn't be sitting next to his father. The paparazzi had already been vanquished from outside of the building, so that wasn't a problem, but everywhere else things began going wrong.Tseng wasn't sure whether or not he should help with anything, and decided not to ask, and to instead just sit with Rufus. So far the CEO hadn't even acknowledged their presence. He was over near the entrance talking to Hojo, whom Tseng remembered as the Head of the Science Department. "_Wow_." Tseng thought, eyeing the two talk, "_Their conversation is so engaging he hasn't even spoken to either Rufus, or his wife, who has been trying to talk to him since he arrived_." However, the more Tseng watch, the more he began to realize that the President was avoiding his wife. He wouldn't even make eye contact with her. The anguish of having her husband ignore her who plainly on the Vice President's mother's face, however the President seemed oblivious to it, and continued talking with Hojo, and then Abel.By the time the guests began arriving Reeve had once again made an appearance, though Tseng found that he was too busy to talk to him. After the President's Wife realized her husband was ignoring her, she took it upon herself to harass Tseng. Or, at least he considered it harassment. Right now she was hanging tightly onto his arm as he walked around the perimeter of the spacious dinning room. This would have been fine had she not bumped into everyone they walked by due to her inability to let him go, or move out of the way. Everything had been operating smoothly once again until Rufus' mother wanted to speak with her child, and he was no where to be found."Rufus!" The child's mother screeched. "Rufus?!" She turned towards Tseng. "Honestly, where could that boy be?"A rush of fear raced through the Turk. "I thought you said he was with Reeve?""No, that was over an hour ago, just fifteen minutes ago he told me he would be outside. Said he wanted some fresh air or something."That was all Tseng needed to hear, he quickly raced towards the door, grabbing his jacket off a nearby chair."Where are you going?" A loud cry followed him."To make sure the Midgar Owls don't take your son!" He yelled back, not bothering to turn around."That's ridiculous! Who would want to capture that wretched child?" The CEO's wife snorted, watching as the Turk raced out of the dinning hall.The outside air was cool and Tseng could taste the salt for the ocean nearby. Normally he would enjoy being outside on a day like this; however he was very worried about Rufus. He was nowhere to be found, and that was strange because he could be easily spotted from a mile away. The Midgar Owls could have abducted him in seconds. Tseng refrained from yelling his name, so as not to attract attention, but ran around, looking for any signs of where he might be.The wind had begun to blow hard in Tseng's face as he raced all over Junon, his footsteps echoing loudly when they hit the hard pavement. He sprinted through the housing district. If the Midgar Owls truly had taken him then there was very little chance he would find him. However, Tseng noticed that there was no sign of a struggle, and he his mind rushed back to something Rufus had said the other day. Suddenly the Turk knew where the boy was, and found himself rushing down into the slums of Junon."Rufus..." The child was sitting at the edge of the dock, his feet swinging over the side haphazardly. He didn't turn around when heard his name so the Turk moved to sit next to him. For a while no one spoke and the two stared out at the calm, blue ocean for half an hour before Tseng stood up. His shoulder length black hair caught the sea breeze and blew behind him. "We should go. Your father will wondering why you're not down at the banquet." Rufus, closed his eyes, and continued to face the open sea.A minute passed."Rufus-""I hate him.""What?" Tseng once again turned to face the minor. He took a few steps towards the boy, but stopped when he spoke again."I hate him." Rufus repeated, his soft voice choking with emotion. Tseng had no reply."_He hates him?_" he thought to himself "_Well, I guess his father's never really been there for him...But..._" Tseng stayed silent, as was his nature and they both continued to look out towards the sea. For a while neither of them spoke. Ten minutes passed before a small voice broke the silence.

"Hey Tseng, do you have anyone?"

The Turk looked over at him, and didn't respond. "You know." Rufus continued "Someone you really care about..." He paused "Someone who cares about you." After a second the Wutain smiled and blushed slightly as he pulled out his wallet from inside a pocket in his navy blue jacket. Within the wallet he removed a small black and white photograph."Aeris Gainsburough" He said, handing the photo to Rufus. "She's like a sister to me." Rufus raised an eyebrow, then looked down at the picture for a moment, a small crease forming on his forehead that made him look too old for his age. Finally he handed the picture back to Tseng and shrugged."She's fat.""Tseng's eyes widened. "What?""She's fat." Rufus again said.Tseng gazed at the child as if he were a three-headed chocobo. "No she's not!""Yes she it!" Rufus argued. He snatched the photo from Tseng's hand and pointed incessantly at it. "See look!"Tseng stomped a foot, causing the dock to creak below him. "How can you say that?! It's just because in our weight obsessed culture-""No" Rufus interrupted "She's fat.""Whatever." Tseng laughed, grabbing the photo back. "You're blind or somethin'."Now it was Rufus' turn to smile, but even as he did, when Tseng looked down at him he could tell it was forced. "We have to go back now don't we?" Rufus asked. His voice so soft Tseng could barely hear it. It was if he had been dreading saying those words.The Turk nodded "Yeah." He began to walk with him. The wind had died down, and the sun had begun to set, causing the sky to turn a brilliant shade of crimson. The light reflected off of Rufus' blond hair, turning it to a bright shade of red. Tseng would have thought it an ominous premonition if he believed in that sort of thing, but instead it reminded him that he needed to try and get a hold of Dante later that night. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three  
**  
When Tseng woke up the next day he found himself frozen stiff. Shivering, he got up and called for servants to turn up the heat. After all, he was supposed to be protecting Rufus, and it would really, in his opinion, suck to tell the President of his company that his son froze to death.

As soon as it began to warm up, the Turk stumbled over to the window, shaking his legs as his walked to try and regain feeling in them. As he looked, out he realized why it was so cold. During the night it had snowed, in fact, big flakes were still drifting to the already snow-covered streets of Junon. The Turk lazily watched as the snow fell slowly towards the ground. He felt his eyelids droop."You sleep on the couch?" Tseng's mind snapped back to the moment at hand. He spun around to see a very awake Reeve. Bathrobe on, coffee mug in one hand and Felix in the other, the man from Urban Development attempted to gesture towards Tseng's makeshift bed."Yeah, I can assess all points of this place very quickly from here.""Oh." Reeve set down his kitten, which immediately jumped up on the couch, and scampered under the blankets in an attempt to get warm."Did you see the snow?" Tseng asked, aware that the Vice President was now making his way down the stairs, trying not to trip over his red, satin pajamas.Reeve shrugged, watching as Rufus stumbled, half-asleep into the dining room. "Yeah, a cold front must have come through during the night.""Really? You think?" Rufus dryly remarked, rubbing his eyes. "Tell me truthfully now, what was your first clue; the snow or the fact that yesterday it was 50 degrees out and now it's 12?"Reeve's shoulders quickly slumped, and his face was becoming red again. Tseng felt an intervention was in order. Reeve just didn't have the self- confidence it took to deal with Rufus. "Erm" He started "Where's your mother?"Rufus shrugged, reaching for a piece of toast. "Who knows," He continued to reach for the toast but his little arm wasn't long enough, and finally Tseng moved it closer to him. It was at this point that Reeve had stopped blushing, and decided to join in the conversation again."I heard a guard say that she was going to sleep in late, seems she still need to recover from last night. Apparently she had a bit too much to drink and...um...." He trailed off, glancing over towards Rufus, who had begun to butter the toast. The boy seemed to not have heard what he had said, but Reeve decided not to continue, just in case. However, Rufus had other ideas."Ahh, you mean she got wasted again last night?" He remarked, still buttering. How Rufus learned the word "wasted" at the innocent age of ten was beyond Tseng. The Turk was about to intervene yet again, but Rufus continued "I assume that seeing father totally ignore her yet again was too much for her to handle." He chuckled sadly to himself, setting the butter knife down on the ivory-colored tablecloth. "I don't know why she keeps trying, I mean, if he cared about us we would be living in Midgar with him, right?" He began munching on the toast."Sir..." Reeve began, but was cut off by a look from Tseng that plainly said "be quiet". The rest of the meal was eaten in silence.At noon the snow had stopped falling, and Rufus' Mother, Juno came down to eat lunch with them. Throughout Tseng's life he would have many awkward moments. However, looking back, he would place this one very high on his list. Juno seemed content to not speak with any of them, and halfway through the meal, when Rufus offered her a piece of bread, she totally ignored him, and instead of taking it, reached for a glass of water. This saddened the boy, who considered the offering of the bread equivalent to the offering of the olive branch. It was his unspoken way of saying 'I'm sorry for whatever I might have done'.After lunch Juno went back upstairs, leaving a visibly melancholy Rufus behind. Tseng wanted to call Dante, he had only been able to get a hold of him on his cell phone for a short period of time the night before, and wanted to ask what was going on back at Shin-ra Headquarters. Reeve, on the other hand, being the sensitive humanitarian that he was, wanted to cheer Rufus up."Come on!" He whispered to Tseng, as soon as he thought Rufus was in the bathroom, and out of earshot. "It would be good for him. I mean, you heard him this morning, he's got a lot of family issues going on. It would take his mind away from them."Tseng stared at Reeve for a long time. "Does he actually know what he's asking?" He thought. "No," the Turk said aloud. "Absolutely not. What if he freezes to death?"  
Now it was Reeve's turn to stare. "Freeze to death? I suggested a snowball fight, not a week long camping excursion!""I think it's a great idea." Both Tseng and Reeve turned around to see Rufus' small form looking up at them, a smirk written plainly across his pale face.Half an hour later all three Shin-ra employees were suited up to handle the cold outdoors, and guards were positioned around the designated "playing field". Though the snow had stopped falling an hour ago, it was freezing outside. The wind had blown the snow into large drift piles, which were perfect for hiding behind."Okay," Reeve said. "The name of the game is 'Snow Battle'. We have fifteen minutes to make our forts, then the fight starts. When you get hit by a snowball you're out. Last person remaining wins. Maybe we should have a trial game first to-." He stopped, noticing the weird looks both Tseng and Rufus were giving him. "What? I grew up on a farm, and we would get bored when it snowed, so my sisters and I would go outside and play games in the snow....""Dork," Rufus muttered. Tseng sighed heavily."Okay, fifteen minutes to make a snow fort. Let's go," Tseng had already snapped into Turk mode. He was treating the game like a mission. "_Fifteen minutes: One Fort. Strategy: lie still and just wait until either of them makes a move, then hit 'em hard. It might take a while, but it's a guaranteed win,_" Tseng thought, turning around, and heading towards a pile off in the distance.The wind started up again, and after five minutes of walking he realized that this might not have been such a good idea. When the Turk turned around he found that he could no longer see Reeve or Rufus. He assumed they were already hiding, but the playing field they had chosen was so big that they could be anywhere. Turk mode was now fading out, and Tseng's panic mode was setting in. "_I should have never let them talk me into this. What if I can't find the Vice President? Damn! I should head back, as a Turk I'm responsible for him, I should have never have even humored the idea of a snowball fight. At this rate he'll freeze to death before I find him and I'll_- WHOA!!" Tseng's thoughts were cut short as a snowball went whizzing by his head. A second later he saw a flash of blonde hair as Rufus moved from one snow pile, to another right next to it. "Hey!" The Turk cried, falling to the ground, and successfully making himself a harder target to hit. "You were supposed to wait fifteen minutes!"Twenty minutes had passed since the start of the game. No one had been hit yet, though there had been some close calls. Tseng wasn't doing much right now, since Rufus had taken it upon himself to attack Reeve and only Reeve. In fact, he had been trying to hit him ever since he missed Tseng before the start of the game. The Vice President paying more attention to Reeve than him normally wouldn't be such a bad thing; however, the Turk was beginning to get very cold. Especially since he hadn't moved since he'd dropped to the ground after Rufus almost hit himTseng spied Rufus running out from behind a mound of snow. "_Heh_." He thought to himself "_Bad move_" without taking his eyes off the boy he reached towards the cold ground beside him and grabbed on of his pre-made snowballs. All of a sudden a low jingle rang out through the air. Though Tseng's cell phone wasn't particularly loud, Rufus heard it, and scampered behind another pile of snow. Tseng shrugged. There would be other opportunities. In any case, Dante was probably calling him and that was more important than the snowball fight."Text message" he muttered, and bent over to check his phone. He read the message blankly, at first not fully comprehending what it said. Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard Rufus give a victory cry, and Reeve yelp. However, none of that mattered to him anymore. "Get inside!" The Turk screamed, jumping to his feet.Rufus looked at his bodyguard, a puzzled frown on his face. "Come on!" Tseng cried, grabbing the boy's hand. He ran through the snow as best he could, pulling the Vice President along with him. Tseng couldn't worry about Reeve now; he wasn't his responsibility. He could only hope that he had gotten the message and went for cover. The guards that surrounded them quickly moved in closer and raised their weapons, readying them for use. Tseng pulled Rufus through the door leading back inside right as a shot was heard. Reeve's scream echoed from outside into the massive hallways of the mansion, and Rufus whimpered slightly, noticing that the man from Urban Development wasn't with them. "Wait!" He cried, attempting to pull Tseng to a halt.The Turk ignored the boy's struggling. It meant nothing to him now. All he could think about was the message he had just received:"Leon's missing, and the Midgar Owls know where Rufus is. Be prepared."

* * *

Author's Note: Wow, short chapter! Anyway, I'm going to be gone for a week. Chapter 4 won't be up until after the 14th. ;; 


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Anodyne's website's up! ] Right now both the website and are being updated at the same time, but later the site will be updated more often. Oh, also, don't forget to R and R after reading! :)  
  
**CHAPTER FOUR**  
  
"So you didn't kill 'im?"

"No... Hit one of his friends though...""Shit." It was dark, and the redhead looked pissed. He had sent out the best members of his faction to kill the little twerp many referred to as the Vice President of Shin-ra Inc.

Unfortunately, they had reported back with bad news. The redhead hated bad news; he hated it almost as much as he hated being sober. Luckily, he only had to deal with one of those problems, considering he had stopped at the bar near their headquarters right before reporting for duty.

"Sir?" The guard looked at his leader curiously, keeping his voice calm and soft. He was more than just a bit wary of him. Sure he was the brother of the head of the whole faction, but he just didn't seem... mentally stable, to put it lightly. However, that was not the only reason he had kept his voice that way. The redhead had been known to kill the bearers of bad news, and the fact that he was both angry and holding a dagger didn't make things better.The guard's leader sighed and ran his fingers through his messy hair, still holding his weapon in his left hand. "Shooting the Vice President's friend... Shit man, that's bad. Now they definitely know we're in Junon." He closed his eyes, and if the guard didn't know him to be slightly drunk, he would have thought his leader to be in deep thought. In any case, he hesitated before speaking once again and kept his voice low when he finally did."Erm... Sir, they knew we were there before the first shots were even fired. That Turk... Tseng, was it? Well, he pulled the Vice President inside right as we got in formation.""Hmmm?" The redhead stopped messing with his hair, as he realized he might cut himself with his dagger, and stared at the guard once again, a single crimson eyebrow raised. "Tseng huh?" He knew who Tseng was. How could he not? His brother had warned him about the Wutian Turk many times over. About how cold he was, how ruthless he could be in a fight, how he considered himself to be a "true professional". "_Fuck_," the man thought to himself, "_I probably even know his measurements_." The leader sighed and scratched at one of the tattoos that he and his brother had both acquired on their cheekbones. "You may go," He gestured towards the door leading out of the perpetually dark room he was in.

The guard was only halfway out of the door when he fell to the floor, a dagger embedded in the back if his head. "Damn, man, you just think you're going to get out easy?" The redhead asked the dead body, sauntering over to it. "I don't need moronic assassins."

Currently the town was swarming with Military Police sent by Shin-ra and therefore it was very dangerous for them to leave the tiny makeshift headquarters. The redhead's brother had connections, so he was rarely there, and because of his absence the guard's leader he was extremely bored. He had a feeling his brother would call him up in a few minutes and ask directions to the headquarters again. He had a very hard time finding the place after leaving Midgar just a few days ago, even though the landmark showing where they were was hard to miss."_Whatever,_" he thought, "_It's not my problem if he can't find the place. I just need to make sure that little brat is killed_." Then remembering what had occurred the day before, namely, how the mission had been a failure, he quickly lost his cocky attitude."Fuck," the man mumbled, slumping down on the lone chair in the corner of the dusty room. "I need a drink"

----

"You're lucky you got him inside when you did."

Tseng had heard those words repeated over and over for the last week. That's why it didn't surprise him when those were some of the first few words out of Reeve's mouth when he visited him in the hospital.A small gunshot wound, that's all the Urban Development employee had suffered. After viewing his medical report, Tseng deduced that it could have been much worse. Hell, he had taken at least five bullet grazings himself, "_Though_," he thought, "_None of them to the butt,_" which was exactly where Reeve found he had been shot.Since the events of the snowball fight, search parties had been sent out to find both Leon and the members of the Midgar Owls.  
In the case of Leon, however, there was little to no hope. Turks didn't just "go missing". The president had already informed Tseng personally that he had found a new Turk to replace the Leon. However, Tseng was a bit skeptical, usually the head of the Turks would choose a new rookie to take the fallen Turk's place, not the CEO of the company, and he vaguely wondered why Dante wasn't the one choosing the new trainee. Tseng tried to push these thoughts out of his head as he spoke to Reeve that day."So, how's Rufus doing?" Reeve asked."Okay I guess, he's waiting outside now with the guards." The Turk responded."Ahh." The man from Urban Development smiled. "Well, I'm glad he's okay. I was really worried that you guys might have not gotten inside in time. I never saw you enter the building."Tseng sighed. Reeve was so soft inside. Even though Rufus gave him Hell, he was still worried about him. "_If I were in his position I'd be more worried about the chunk missing from my ass._" He thought, then "_Ugh. Rufus' cynicism must be rubbing off on me._" The Turk grinned inwardly; he would have never thought that would have happened."Do you have any idea who did this?""Midgar Owls have claimed responsibility for the attack. Troops have been mobilized. Luckily intelligence... Well, Dante at least, doesn't believe there's any actual danger anymore. After all, with all of the Military Police around, clearance to just get within three miles of the Junon Shin- ra Mansion is almost impossible."Reeve still looked a bit worried at this. "You're still keeping a close watch on Rufus, right?"Tseng nodded, "Of course, it's my job." After that Reeve was visibly more relaxed, and Tseng had been talking to him for half an hour when his cell phone began to ring. He picked it up and wasn't surprised to find it was none other than Dante who had called him. His leader had been sent to check up on them a few days ago, as soon as word had gotten out that there had been an attack. Unfortunately Rufus and the Turk leader didn't get along that well. The boy was annoyed by his carefree attitude."Tseng, Rufus is acting up out here. Just thought you should know." Tseng nodded at his leader's statement. A few minutes later he was outside in the cold and pasty waiting room of the hospital. The lights shone bright, reflecting off of both the walls and the shiny blue Military Police uniforms. It took the Turk less than a second to pinpoint Rufus and Dante's location.The Vice President was standing in the corner of the room, away from the guards. It looked as if he was attempting to sulk, but wasn't quite able to, due to Dante continuously ruffling his hair and giggling.Upon seeing his bodyguard Rufus looked up, his arms crossed tightly against his chest, and blue eyes ablaze."Why would you leave me alone with the MP?" He asked coldly, his accusatory tone surprising Tseng."I thought you said you didn't want to see Reeve after you were told by the nurse that you weren't allowed to bring Felix in" the Turk asked, remembering how hard the boy had tried to smuggle the cat in, and how angry he was when he was caught by Dante."Yes, but I didn't want you to just leave me with them." He gestured towards the oblivious Military Police angrily. By now the child's hair was extremely messy, he whacked Dante's hand away, visibly irked at something."Why not?" Tseng questioned, abandoning his usual silence.Rufus' eyes narrowed. "Do you know what they do to-" he stopped, and seemed to be both chocking on the words, and deciding whether or not he should continue. An awkward silence filled the room between the three Shin- ra employees. Dante spoke first."So?" He asked in a happy manner that was almost reminiscent of Reeve. "Ready to go? Or should we stay around here and-""Anyway, I'll talk to you later, when this," he pointed at Dante, who was taken back by the interruption, "bozo isn't here." Tseng didn't respond, which, by now Rufus was getting used to. "I'll talk to you around ten?" He asked, expecting his bodyguard to say his normal one-word answer of 'yes' as a response. Instead it was Dante who spoke next."Isn't that going to be past your bed time?""No" The Vice President said in a voice that was obviously meant to mimic Dante "It's not past my bedtime." He paused, and began again, this time taking a more serious tone. "Mom just wants me in bed by midnight."Dante laughed, which Rufus wasn't that happy about, and pulled out the keys to his Shin-ra provided, navy blue car. "_Blue car_" Tseng thought, he was reminded of the blue Turks uniform. "_I should tell Dante about the new Turk trainee_."

----

Tseng's sleeping area had been moved as soon as Dante had come to Junon. The Turk leader had called the couch, stating that he would take charge of protecting everyone at night, (though Tseng supposed the real reason was because it was near one of the only TVs in the mansion) and because Dante was his superior he had to listen to him and take a room at the top of the main staircase. The room the second in command of the Turks got was a large one. However, it was entirely barren, save for the small bed in the corner of the room.

Tseng had been a bit worried, because Rufus hadn't shown up at 10 like he said he would. He was also a bit curious about what exactly it was that Rufus could have against the MPs. Moreover, when Rufus didn't show up on time Tseng assumed that he wasn't going to. And since he was tired he let himself fell asleep.However, he had only been asleep for a short period of time when he awoke to find something warm next to him. A second passed before he remembered that he went to sleep freezing cold. "_Hmmm_?" He thought to himself, "_Someone must have turned the heat up.... Damn... I'm so sleepy... Wait, why is it soft here?_" All of a sudden the Turk was no longer drowsy. His eyes opened wide, and he struggled to see in the dark.There, lying next to him was a very naked Juno."What the fu-," Tseng started, but Rufus' mother cut him off

, pulling herself closer to the Turk.

"Don't worry," She whispered, her voice hoarse. Tseng caught a whiff of her breath and could tell she had been drinking. When she continued, her speech was so incoherent that he could barely make out any words. "Bastard... He's not the only one who can sleep around... doesn't care...""Ummmm..." Tseng whispered, starting to push her away. He didn't know exactly what to say, but he did know that if she didn't get away from him that this wasn't going to end well."Dun go..." She slurred, struggling against him to get closer. At this time they were both fairly entangled in the green comforter, and it was also when the door to the Turk's room opened."What's going on here?" A soft, childish voice that the man had grown to know all so well echoed in the empty room."Gah!" Tseng tried to respond, but found it hard when Juno, oblivious to the fact that her son had entered the room, was still trying to get close to him.Without saying another word the Vice President left the room and started walking down the spiral staircase that was positioned near Tseng's room. The boy found himself shaking slightly, or maybe "shaken" was a better way to put it. Anger and sadness welled up inside the child, and it was impossible to say which emotion was stronger. He wasn't all that surprised with his mother. He had thought for quite a while that she might have tried something like that; experimenting with other people after she found out her husband had a wandering eye. Tseng on the other hand...Rufus walked downstairs in a daze, he walked until he found Dante propped up on the couch next to Felix, watching TV. Rufus plopped down beside the kitten and pulled him into his lap using hands, which all of a sudden felt like they weighed a ton."What's wrong lil' buddy?" Dante asked, not turning from the TV.The Vice President didn't say anything. He just simply looked down at Felix, and started petting him. He was beginning to realize that Tseng's use of silence to deal with things worked pretty well. "I don't need anything," the boy thought, not noticing that Dante had now turned off the TV and was looking down at him."Wanna go for a ride?" He asked. Rufus looked up at him, with an expression that plainly read 'What?!'.The leader of the Turks smiled kindly. "Come on,'" He said, pulling Rufus, who was now holding Felix, to his feet. "It might make you feel better, just getting out." Once again the Vice President just didn't respond, but allowed himself to be dragged to the car along with Felix.

They had been driving for about half an hour when Dante asked a question that surprised Rufus into talking again. "So, I guess you saw Tseng and your Mother?"

Rufus turned to Dante, "How'd you know?""Well" He started "They've been staying together for the last week or so. At least that's what Tseng said. Why do you think he got that room?" The Vice President didn't say anything for a minute, lost in thought. Instead he just turned to stare out of the tinted window.Another half an hour passed and the child spotted a large three story black building, that didn't look remotely out of place in the Junon slums."Huh?" Rufus pointed out of the window as they slowed down near the building. "That's where we're going?" He raised an eyebrow. "What's with all of the weird red flowers in front of the door?"Dante didn't answer, but instead smiled to himself as he drove the black car behind the building.

----  
Authors Note: Okay, this chapter was a bit boring I guess.... Anyway, yay! We're entering the climax of the story! (Finally! XD ) Only two chapters left! The next chapter will be A LOT more action-oriented. Speaking of that, give me at least a week and a half before the next chapter is posted. I'm going on vacation again, than I'm off to Otakon (I'll be cosplaying as Reno...) A few plot twists are still to come. _Oh yeah, please R and R_


	5. Chapter 5

****

CHAPTER 5

"About time you got here!" Tseng cried, pushing Juno's head away from his face. The guards hesitated going any closer to the naked woman that was molesting the boxer-clad Turk, but that soon passed when Tseng began threatening them.

The Wutian frowned as Juno struggled with the guards. Just moments earlier Rufus had come into his bodyguard's room, to find him in a compromising position with the wife of President Shin-ra.

Tseng had watched the boy leave silently he wasn't able to find the words to convey the confusion he was feeling. He did, however, find his cell phone a few seconds later, and called guards to help him in his battle against the child's mother.

It had taken a minute, but the guards were finally there, attempting to get some clothes on the President's wife.

"What the Hell is going on?" one of the guards asked Tseng, an amused look on his face.

"Nothing." Tseng muttered. His thoughts were already miles away, wondering where Rufus went and how exactly he was going to explain this to him.

-----

"What do you think you're doing?" These were the first words out of Rufus' mouth as he stumbled into the building, propelled by Dante.

"Heh, I see you finally found the place." A redheaded man in the corner of the room remarked. In the darkness of the building Rufus couldn't see his face. He realized that there were quite a few people in the room he was in, but he couldn't tell exactly where they were.

"Shut up Reno," Dante muttered. Rufus looked up at the Turk, but the look he saw on the older man's face caused him to reflexively clutch Felix protectively against his chest.

Though a smirk was on Rufus' face, he was now feeling more than just a little but unsure of himself. "_Why did Dante bring me here?" _He thought, eyes darting from Dante, to the stranger that had first spoken.

"Reno," Dante said, ignoring the Vice President's question, "hand me the silencer."

"Dun have it boss," The redhead muttered, his eyes trailing over to Rufus. He was in deep thought.

"Don't be stupid, I know you have it, and its absence at the mansion has made killing the boy a real pain in the ass."

Reno chuckled to himself, and Rufus started to get nervous. Now his eyes were darting around the room, trying to figure out how he'd escape. "_I'll just let these idiots work this out, in the mean time, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I left…"_

The redhead saw what he was doing. "Don't try it kid." He turned back to Dante and laughed softly. "You mean to tell me the only reason you didn't just kill him there was that you were afraid of being heard? You wasted all of that time and effort to bring him here because you didn't feel like fighting off a few guards, and a fucking Turk?"

Dante's face contorted into an angry grimace. "_Two_ Turks; they started training a new one less than a week ago." He corrected. "Anyway, It's not like it was much effort, getting that woman drunk and in bed with the Turk was easy enough, it was predicting Rufus' actions that was tough, and now I have him here, so what's the problem?"

"_Heh, I'm so unpredictable and great." _Rufus thought dumbly as the scene he was witness to played out before him, then "_Come on now, keep arguing_." Part of him wanted to scream in frustration, while another wanted to make his smart-ass comments be heard. However, he was smart enough to know that neither of those things would help him out of the situation. So instead of saying anything, he clutched Felix even closer until the cat began to struggle.

"Not now." Rufus whispered, pleading with the animal. "Don't move." He held it even tighter in an effort to contain it. The kitten's claws were assailing he small arms. The boy felt like crying, all of the anger and frustration that he'd been feeling had began to well up inside of him.

He was no longer aware of anything around him, just the struggling kitten he was pleading with in his arms, until Dante's snide voice caught his attention.

"Quiet Reno! Just give me the silencer, can't you see you're making the boy saaaad?"

His slur on the word 'sad' made the Vice-President wince.

"Shove it." The boy hissed, still holding an angry Felix.

Reno shrugged and slowly stood up. He moved lazily towards Dante, walking like a person who'd just woken up.

"I think we have one in the back room, come on," he motioned to a door in the back of the room, "bring the kid."

----

"Stay very still." Tseng whispered to the MP to his left. Currently he was crouched in front of large black building with strange red flowers in the front. As the Turk waited to enter the building his mind went back to the events that had occurred just an hour ago.

He'd quickly found out that Rufus had left with Dante and Felix, and after a series of unanswered calls made to Dante's cell phone, Tseng realized he probably hadn't brought it with him.

However, he needed to find Rufus, and he had a very bad feeling about his superior. It didn't seem right that he would take Rufus out for a drive in the middle of the night, especially since there was a rebel faction bent on the Vice President's destruction. Luckily Tseng remembered that Dante was using a company-supplied car, and for security purposes, they could always be tracked.

This led him to where he was now; huddled with twenty Military Police outside of the building he assumed both Dante and Rufus were in.

He was currently wondering how he should get inside; if he should wait a few more minutes to make sure there were none of the Midgar Owls around or if he should just rush in and take care of details later. A second later a gunshot ran out through the air. Tseng took this as a sign that it was time to enter.

----

"Felix please!" Rufus continued to plead, as he was lead into a back room.

It was too late, the cat jumped from Rufus' arms, towards the Turk leader. A shot sounded, Rufus screamed, and a tiny black and white body hit the dirty floor. "Felix!!" Rufus screamed, watching as a small puddle of scarlet surrounded the kitten's dead body.

Dante seemed unaware of the boy's plight; he motioned towards the gun in his hand.

"Do you think anyone heard that?"

Reno shrugged, a smirk on his gaunt face. "Shit, probably, there are MPs everywhere nowadays? I'll go find the silencer. Wait to shoot the boy, if anyone heard that last shot we're screwed." He left to search behind some crates that were piled in the right corner of the dark, windowless room. The Turk turned back towards the child, a look of accomplishment on his face. However, Rufus never saw this, as he was crotched down over Felix's body, gently stroking the kitten's fur.

The boy's throat felt unusually dry, he was breathing hard. "Felix." He whispered, his voice hoarse. Everything seemed surreal, "_This isn't happening_." He thought. "_Damnit THIS ISN'T HAPPENING! What's my father paying Tseng for if he's not even around when I actually need him??!"_

"What the Hell?" The Turk screamed right as an explosion rocked the foundation of the building.

----

"Move out!" Tseng yelled, pulling ahead of his troops. The few members of the resistance that were left after the first wave of attacks were preoccupied by the Military Police, so the Turk took it upon himself to scout out the area in search of the CEOs son.

"Where _is_ that boy?" he whispered, slipping into a back room. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the light, but when they did he realized he was looking down the barrel of a gun.

"Dante." Tseng whispered. A few seconds later he heard a soft whimpering beside him, and noticed Rufus was there, clutching something to his breast.

"I need a distraction." The calculating Turk muttered to himself.

"Ahh, Tseng, so nice of you to join us," Dante laughed.

"_Eh, this is a good enough time as any_," Tseng thought, watching as Dante opened his mouth to speak again. _THUNK!_ The Turk's leg shot up, hitting Dante squarely in the chest, in turn causing him to drop his gun.

A second passed. The Vice President wasn't moving. "Rufus!" Tseng cried, "Pay attention and run!" The boy nodded curtly, and ran.

"_Amazing_." Tseng thought, noticing the look Rufus gave him right before departing, Felix's limp body clutched tightly in his small arms. "_He might die at any moment, and he still feels he has time to give me a dirty look_." The Turk gritted his teeth and turned his attention back towards Dante, who had, by this time, retrieved his weapon, and had stood up, grabbing his injured arm with one hand, and holding the gun steady in the other. Tseng noticed it was aimed at his head and it was then a small part of him realized that there was a good chance he might not get out of this alive. Fortunately, the majority of his mind was in Turk mode and was focused on the task at hand, namely, getting out and making sure Rufus was safe.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Tseng reasoned, keeping his voice steady, and his eyes burning into Dante's.

The Turk leader chuckled, not lowering his weapon. "Are you going to try and make a deal with me? Tsk, tsk, Tseng, what have you become?" He asked with a mocking tone.

Tseng ignored his comment and decided to take a different course, "_Why_ are you doing this?"

A flash of rage passed through Dante's eyes. "Why am I doing this?" He repeated, his voice wavering ever so slightly. "Because of fuckers like you; people from Shin-ra who don't care. People that think they can fuck up everyone's life." By now Dante was shaking with anger. "I was once a respected engineer from Junon, had a wife, just married. Then Shin-ra came and screwed everything up!" His voice dropped dangerously low, and his sentences became odd and disjointed, making it so Tseng had a hard time following what he was saying. "She worked for Shin-ra, was a medical technician. One night she didn't come home. Then for a week I heard nothing from her and called to see what was going on. I got no response. Shin-ra sent guards a month later to deal with me. I killed quite a few of them before the rest of the ganged up on me, captured me, and took me back to Shin-ra. They decided I should train to become a Turk.

"Years later I found out my wife had been killed by one of us; that she had stumbled onto one of Shin-ra's secrets, the JENOVA project." There was a slight pause in his story, and then the Turk continued. "I tried to find out as much as I could about Shin-ra, and their dealings with my family.

"That's when I found out I had a brother. Met him just last month. Heh, he's only fifteen, but he's already a killer. That's what Shin-ra does to everyone, and that's why I'm doing this." He finished his speech and took a second to catch his breath. Tseng assumed he had been waiting a long time to get that out.

"But what will killing the Vice President accomplish?" The Turk pestered. "_Maybe I can buy Rufus some time to escape,_" he thought. "_The MPs I sent should have already dealt with the majority of the terrorists. He should be fine…. But still_." The older man couldn't help but be worried, and he was even more worried by the fact that he felt that way; Turks weren't supposed to feel strong emotions.

Dante looked down, taking his eyes off Tseng. "Well-" He began.

"_This is my chance_," Without warning Tseng turned. He had taken only two steps when Dante noticed what he was doing.

"No!" A loud screech penetrated the cool night air, and the Turk leader's foot shot in between Tseng's legs successfully tripping him. Tseng hit the ground and instantly rolled over, his training kicked in, and the leg that Dante had just kicked flung out, hitting his superior in the hand. Unfortunately Tseng had forgotten that Dante was left-handed, so it happened to be the hand without the gun in it. He aimed again, this time for Dante's left when a loud bang shattered the silence. Pain ripped through Tseng's side.

"_He shot me,_" were the first thoughts that ran through his head.

Raven colored hair flew through the freezing cold air, as Tseng rolled to his feet, clutching his side. His eyes darted back and forth between Dante and the gun that was plastered in his pale hands.

Everything seemed to be in slow motion now as the Turks' leader's fingers tightened on the trigger. Once again the gun was aimed at Tseng's head.

For the first time in his life Tseng had no great plan. His mind wasn't reacting to what was going on—he was totally frozen to the world—and finally only one thought passed through his mind,

"_I'm going to die_."

He stayed frozen, his eyes on Dante, waiting for the end.

"Heh" low laughter came from behind one of the wooden crates piled in the dark room. Dante allowed himself to turn ever so slightly to face the sound, though his green eyes never left Tseng.

"Ahhh, I see our little Turky-wurky has found himself in a very interesting position".

The leader of the Turks laughed. "Reno, hurry up and find the Vice President." He smirked, shaking the hand Tseng had kicked. "Let me deal with this one…"

"Hm? Brother, I think you misunderstood. I was talking about _you_." Reno's thin, pale lips curled back, revealing white teeth. The leader of the Turks swung around, still keeping his gun on Tseng.

"What the fuck are you talking about Reno?!" He hissed, emerald eyes narrowing. "This is no time to be joking around!"

"Oh dear brother, wasn't it you who always told me 'never trust a Turk'?" Dante's once narrowed eyes widened as he realized what was happening. "But we're brothers…"

Reno smiled, and pulled the trigger.

All of a sudden many things happened at once. Of course first, Dante was shot. His torso shook violently as Reno emptied five bullets into his body. Second, Tseng ran. Without taking a single glance back at the new Turk, he sprinted towards the door, following Rufus' earlier footsteps

Slowly Dante's knees bucked, and his corpse slumped to the ground. His body was drenched in crimson, and blood flowed freely from the bullet wounds in his chest, each looking like a tiny black hole set against a red canvas.

Reno didn't wait to see his body fall, however. As soon as he was done shooting his brother he calmly walked around him, and set off after Tseng. As he walked, a sly smile appeared on his face, and he calmly looked down at the silencer at the end of his gun. "Found it boss."

Don't worry, everything should come together and make sense by the end of the next chapter. (heh, the psuedo plot-hole will be filled. XD) Oh yeah, since I'm not getting much feedback, the next chapter will probably be the last, or at least close to the last, one. (Considering it's going to wrap everything up. Yeah, and it's going to be Reno-filled, because, well, it has to be XD)

Sequels anyone? Or maybe I could write this from Reno's POV. Heeeeey, that might be interesting…

Oh yeah, here's a short part of the fic that never made it…for…erm, obvious reasons:

Something moved quickly in the corner of the room. Tseng whipped out his gun and shot at the moving target, only stopping when he heard, "Argh! My Penis! You shot it off!"

Satisfied, and a bit disturbed, the Turk ran into the next room to catch up with Rufus.

Here's another from last chapter, when Rufus walked in on Juno and Tseng:

Juno stopped molesting Tseng for a moment, and turned towards her son. She roughly pushed herself away from the Wutian Turk and headed towards Rufus, her arms outstretched.

"Comon baby, how 'bout a hug?" She slurred, stopping only a few feet away from her son.

Rufus raised a thin eyebrow "Erm, I would but you know…. Cooties"


End file.
